Miami Heat star LeBron James had a little fun mocking Buffalo Bills receiver’s Steve Johnson controversial touchdown dance during a flag football game in which he competed against Kevin Durant. Johnson pretended to shoot himself in the leg to imitate Plaxico Burress’ shooting incident.

The dance didn’t work out so well for Johnson’s reputation, but is LeBron James’ dance funnier or equally offensive?

ESPN NFL analyst Hugh Douglas hit a nerve with @KingJames fans in the twitterverse after he ripped LeBron James for the dance mocking Burress’ legal troubles on ESPN’s First Take.

Douglas looked into a camera, grabbed his neck to signify choking and said “how about this, because that’s what you did in the Finals. First and foremost, why don’t you learn how to play your game first instead of worrying about somebody else’s?”

“That really bothered me making fun of Plaxico Burress. This man got shot and went to jail.”

Douglas added, “Plaxico Burress played in the Super Bowl and he got a ring. Get a ring first before you talk about anybody, bottom line.”

Delonte West of the Cleveland Cavaliers fights to keep control of the ball against Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics during Game Five of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2008 NBA Playoffs n Boston. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

The industry of furniture sales just got infinitely more popular thanks for NBA guard Delonte West.

West tweeted his 6,000-plus followers @CharleeRedz13 that he was the proud new employee for Regency Furniture Showcase, a furniture chain on the East Coast. It’s important to note that West previously applied for a job at Home Depot in August in light of the fact that he cannot play basketball overseas to his previous legal problems according to the Huffington Post. West also told TrueHoops that applied for a job at Sam’s Club in August.

“I actually might have work with Sam’s (Club), BJ’s, selling knives,” said West, who has been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. “That’s pretty cool too. I get a microphone and everything.”

Does that quote make anybody nervous?

Delonte West, also known for his alleged tryst with LeBron James mother Gloria James, has made no secret about his money troubles via his twitter account in light of the NBA lockout. Basketballreference.com cites West’s career earnings at $14,093,519 since joining the league in 2004. His largest single season payout came from the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2009-10 season where he made just over $4 million.

In stark contrast, Philadelphis 76ers guard Andre Iguodala shadowed a venture capitalist and visited the New York Stock Exchange as part of a week-long internship with Bank of America Merrill Lynch according to Yahoo! Sports NBA senior writer Marc Spears.

There’s nothing wrong with good, honest work. Thousands of men and women across America provide valuable services to us at furniture stores and at Home Depot chains. I’m guessing less than one percent of those men and women came from million-dollar plus careers.

If NBA commissioner David Stern has a heart, he’ll strongly consider not cancelling the NBA season out of sheer pity for Delonte West.

Miami Heat's LeBron James stands with teammates Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade during Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. REUTERS/Mike Stone

It seems like a lifetime ago that sports fans were being bombarded with stories and television coverage of the NBA’s arguably most hated team, the Miami Heat.

But with a few months to reflect, Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade spoke to ESPN 540 AM this week about the past season and concluded that although the Heat wanted to hush the critics with a NBA championship, his teammates, including LeBron James and Chris Bosh grew from the overall experience.

“Obviously we went through a lot last year. It was unfair some of the stuff that we had to endure but we grew from it,” he said. “That’s over with. We move on to whenever we play basketball again and we will be a different team.”

Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh made some public relations missteps when James declared last summer that the trio would win “not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5, not 6, not 7″ championships. And to be clear, James himself said he wasn’t blowing smoke with that comment.

I thought with a few months of reflection, Dwyane Wade would say something along the lines of “maybe we were a little cocky.” But maybe the trio doesn’t feel like their grand entrance and grand words opened the door to an avalanche of criticism.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying the Miami Heat stars deserved to get beat over the head with negativity for the entire season, but you would think with a little reflection that perhaps they would take some small part of accountability for the criticism.

Tim Tebow wears the Bible verse Isaiah 40:31 on his eye black for their game against Kentucky at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky, Saturday, September 26, 2009. (Gary W. Green/Orlando Sentinel/MCT)

Saying – or writing – anything critical about Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow is a sure-fire way to create controversy.

“Others who say I won’t make it are wrong,” Tebow told the Denver Post on Thursday. “They don’t know what I’m capable of and what’s inside me. My family and my friends have been bothered by what’s gone on, and I tell them to pay no attention to it. I’m relying as always on my faith.”

The premise of Doyel’s column centers around one question. What if God’s plan for Tim Tebow is to be a back-up in the NFL and not a starter?

It’s a fair question and one that Doyel – who says he is a church-going man himself – does a good job of explaining, but the final three paragraphs most likely stroke the fire.

“Tebow has been a great billboard for Christianity — just as Muhammad Ali has been a great billboard for Islam, and Sandy Koufax a great billboard for Judaism — but that doesn’t mean he will be rewarded with a starting job in the NFL. Maybe deep inside his heart Tebow knows that, but from the outside it doesn’t look that way. From the outside it looks like Tebow equates his love for God in heaven with tangible rewards here on earth.

And that’s more than wrong.

It’s blasphemy.”

Wow. Blasphemy?

I agreed with about 95 percent of this column, but the final 5 percent is completely whacked.

Maybe Doyel meant to say arrogant, but definitely not blasphemy.

Blasphemy is defined as irreverence toward a deity or deities and, by extension, the use of profanity. Or it can be defined as an irreverent or impious utterance or action concerning God or sacred things.

Tebow’s words might come off as arrogant, but definitely not blasphemous.

Love or hate Tim Tebow, consider this from a different angle. If you have a talent and a dream and you’re being constantly criticized, picked apart and told what you’ll never amount to, then I’d be more concerned if you didn’t respond with a little arrogance.

I mean seriously, is he supposed to say ‘everybody’s right, I suck. let’s pack it up and call it a day?’

If Tim Tebow doesn’t believe in Tim Tebow, then we can be assured nobody else will. After all, who saw him getting drafted in the first round of the NFL?

Every athlete who competes on an elite level has an elevated level of confidence. Whether the source of that confidence be in their own physical talents, a lucky charm or the God they serve, it’s all the same.

I don’t perceive Tim Tebow’s words as suggesting that he is better than Kyle Orton or that he deserves more than someone else. Maybe what he’s really saying is that he doesn’t believe he deserves any less.

It’s fair to argue about the merits of Tim Tebow’s football talent. It’s even fair to argue about how much he talks about his faith.

But calling the application of his faith blasphemy is more than wrong.

LeBron James sits with Jim Gray before an interview on ESPN on Thursday, July 8, 2010, in Greenwich, Conn

Memo to David Stern, Billy Hunter, Derek Fisher and the NBA stars – the public needs to hear from you.

If you’re like me, then maybe you’ve noticed the leaders in the labor negotiations have been eerily quiet. Even more peculiar is how silent the NBA stars have been when it comes to fighting against hard salary caps in the 2011 NBA lockout.

Stars like Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning were on the front lines for players in the 1998-99 lockout. But that clearly hasn’t been the case this time around.

We’ve heard a lot of talk about overseas teams the league’s most recognizable players are considering taking their talents to. We’ve heard little to nothing about the issues in the lockout and – most important – where these players stand.

Considering the fact that small businesses and those individuals working for the team are the most negatively impacted by labor unrest, the public has a right to know.

Here’s an excerpt from my upcoming column in the Orlando Sentinel.

NBA stars couldn’t get enough of the limelight this past season. So much so, in fact, that I sometimes wondered if LeBron James and ESPN President George Bodenheimer were secret cousins.

Carmelo Anthony and his wife bombarded the public with their new marriage on a reality show and even had a guest spot on ABC’s popular daytime show, “The View.” Dwight Howard sold us McDonald’s hamburgers and Adidas shoes with his mile-wide grin. Among LeBron James’ many hit-or-miss media moments last season, he even debuted a cartoon series about his life – because we clearly don’t know enough about his world.

Today’s NBA stars are better than anyone else in professional sports when it comes to being vocal about self-promotion and branding. They’re even smart enough to export their brand across the world to places like China and Turkey.

But when it comes to fighting against owners in the 2011 NBA lockout, they’ve been surprisingly quiet.

Penny Hardaway talks to reporters outside the RDV Sportsplex back in 1999.

Former Orlando Magic guard Penny Hardaway made a rare appearance in Orlando earlier this week as he was participating in an AAU camp at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex Tuesday and Wednesday. To note, Hardaway hasn’t been back to the city in almost seven or eight years.

To understand why Penny Hardaway, who turns 40 next week, hasn’t come back to Orlando for a while, you can check out my story on his complicated history with the city.

Hardaway currently co-hosts a radio show called the Bottom Line Sports Show and lives in Memphis. I caught up with the former NBA all-star for a few minutes to get his thoughts on the NBA lockout, NBA players talking about bolting overseas and of course, Dwight Howard.

Q: What’s been your take on the NBA lockout as you’ve watched the events transpire and do you think it will last for a while?

A: My view is just the owners are probably a little upset about what happened last year with the LeBron [James] situation and it was kind of like an eyesore for the league because of how it happened with the decision, LeBron and Chris Bosh going to Miami. But I think it’s gonna last a while because they’re gonna want to get some things straight where players can’t leave a franchise without anything. So I think it’s gonna be a while.

Q: Do you think there will be an All-Star game here in Orlando next year?

A: I hope so, I really want to see it back here. That would be unfortunate if the lockout went all the way through the All-Star weekend and didn’t come through here.

Q: What’s your take on all these guys talking about going overseas? Is that a good look?

A: It’s definitely not a good look. It’s not a good look because it means you’re not caring about what’s going on over here, you’re just gonna go and make money. But hey, that’s the way it works. Every guy has a right to do whatever they want to do and would just say good luck to those guys who are gonna go do that.

Q: Last time we talked you said you wanted a try-out with the Miami Heat, are you still playing?

A: All that is over right now. I’m just at home working with kids.

Q: Everybody here obviously is curious to know what’s going to happen with Dwight Howard. Do you know him or have any contact with him at all?

A: I don’t know him, but he came on my radio show last Tuesday and I really didn’t ask him any tough questions, but I think he’s gonna stay here. Well, I hope he does.

Q: What was the veteran leadership like when you were in the NBA as far as them giving you perspective on fighting the bigger fights for players in the league?

A: I think the veteran guys back then were very strong, they were good leaders, they definitely gave us the pros and cons of every decision that we were gonna make. And the only thing that we did wrong was, that I felt, is that we priced the veterans out of the league. With the minimum being a million dollars and when the economy went bad, a million dollars was a lot of money to a lot of teams and they didn’t want any veterans anymore because of that reason so hopefully they’ll give a better deals for the veterans so the veterans can stay in as long as they want.

Hardaway has some very interesting points about pricing the veterans out of the league and how players potentially bolting overseas isn’t a good look for the NBA players’ fight against owners. Then again, if you believe CBS columnist Gregg Doyel, guys like Dwight Howard are lying about going overseas.

Personally, I don’t think NBA players are lying about the overseas deal. I believe Dwight Howard is serious about considering China and if the money is right, there’s a good chance he’ll go. But what does the “fawning” Orlando media (Doyel’s words) know about that anyway?

Saturday Night Live comedian Seth Meyers is dipping his foot into the sports world again as he prepares to host his second consecutive ESPYS awards show in Hollywood tonight, Wednesday July 13. ESPN will broadcast the show at 9 p.m. ET.

Seth Meyers gave his thoughts on LeBron James, Peyton Manning and Barack Obama during a recent ESPN conference call. Here are some of the more interesting tidbits, including our questions to him about how to judge when a joke crosses the line and the nerve-wracking experience of hosting a live show like the ESPYS.

On funniest sports celebrity he’s worked with.

I feel like it’s almost an obvious answer, but I will stick with Peyton Manning. He’s, I think, it’s no surprise to see him in commercials, he’s really one of the funnier guys I ever met….with that said, Charles Barkley might be more fun to talk to. Charles Barkley is in that really nice place now where he’s been so outrageous that no is surprised anymore and that gives him a lot of freedom to say what he wants.

On public’s hate of LeBron James and Miami Heat.

Um, you know it certainly makes sense based on what I know about human behavior that people would turn against LeBron James. Uh, but I would urge people to remember that pretty much all Americans would like to make the choice to work where they want and work with the people they want to do it with. Um, I just think unfortunately there were a few missteps in how it was handled and that made sense that people would sort of enjoy shooting hate at the Heat’s season.

On who is more intimidating to make fun of President Obama or the athletes.

[Seth Meyers previously hosted the White House correspondent's dinner in April]. “Um, I think probably Obama is more intimidating. Even though the athletes can physically hurt me, I feel like Obama has the power of the IRS and that’s more intimidating.”

On his preparation for the ESPYS.

“Well, we’re shooting a few short films this week and writing monologue jokes and, um, we really want to get on the [docket] deserving athletes, so if anyone wants to get in a sex scandal in the next few days that’d be great.

On what’s off limits in the sports world for jokes.

I don’t think anything is off limits, I think one of the tricks for us this year is with so much labor strife, you know, finding the humor in that. I think to most people all lockouts mean is that their sports aren’t gonna happen and I don’t think many people are familiar with the intricacies of collective bargaining so that’s part of the trick. It’s not off limits, but it’s a little harder.

On any previous negative reactions he’s gotten from athletes about ESPYS host performance.

You know, I feel like working at SNL Lorne [Michaels] instills in you, you try not to make a joke that’s so unfair that if you saw the person you would walk the other way. So I think you try to make jokes that as long as at the heart of them they’re fun and not mean-spirited you don’t have to worry about it too much.

On when a joke becomes mean-spirited.

Well, you know, when we write it we have about six comedy writers in the room and I’ve found that if just one comedy writer thinks it’s mean-spirited, it’s probably mean-spirited. To be honest, it’s just the ones that when you say them in the back of your mind you say to yourself that’s probably over the line. I think it’s more of a feel thing than any sort of metric thing that you can put a number on. And to be honest, as a comedy writer you aim for the line and when you aim for the line, there aren’t many times when you go over.

On the most nerve-wracking part about hosting a live show like the ESPYS.

Most of my experience is in live, but the weird thing about the ESPYS versus Saturday Night Live is there’s no dress rehearsal so a lot of times you’re telling jokes for the first time and that I think is probably the most stressful because when you tell a joke in front of a big room of people and no one laughs, you can feel the bewilderment of the audience trying to understand why you ever thought they would [think the joke was funny].

The NBA season is over, but the debate about the best current NBA player is just beginning.

On the Wednesday episode of ESPN’s First Take, Skip Bayless and guest analyst Rob Parker gave their top five current NBA players. Surprisingly, three-time consecutive defensive MVP Dwight Howard wasn’t among the top five on either of their lists.

Skip Bayless and Rob Parker dropped Dwight Howard out of the top five in large part because the Orlando Magic were bounced out of the NBA playoffs in the first round by the Atlanta Hawks.

“Dwight Howard and two or three other guys should beat Atlanta, there’s no way that should happen at all so that’s why those three guys slipped down [the list],” said Parker, who also left LeBron James and Kobe Bryant out of his top five.

Actress Betty White visits "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" at Rockefeller Center on June 14, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

LeBron James has become the punchline to countless jokes and criticisms since the Miami Heat lost in the NBA Finals. But you know things are really bad when even 89-year-old Betty White is jabbing you.

The eternally funny Betty White weighed in on the LeBron James NBA Finals meltdown during an appearance on the David Letterman show. White gave her Top Ten list for “Betty White Tips for Living A Long and Happy Life” and the No. 2 tip was an especially pointed jab at LeBron James (check around the 2:30 mark).

No. 10 – Get at least 8 hours of beauty sleep, 9 if you’re ugly.

No. 9 – Exercise. Or don’t, what the hell do I care?

No. 8 – Never apologize. It shows weakness.

No. 7 – The best way to earn a quick buck is a slip and fall lawsuit.

No. 6 – Avoid tweeting any photos of your private parts.

No. 5 – Schedule a nightly appointment with Dr. Johnnie Walker

No. 4 – Take some wheatgreass, soy paste and carob, toss in the garbage and cook yourself a big piece of pork.

Dallas Mavericks fans and players should feel right at home in Cleveland these days. The Ohio governor John Kasich issued a resolution making the Mavericks honorary “Ohioans” for beating the Miami Heat — namely LeBron James – in the NBA Finals. There was a Cavs for Mavs campaign during the finals series and now (drum roll please)…..there is a sandwich in honor of NBA Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki.

The Dallas Morning News reported that a Ohio deli, Corky and Dennys, changed the name of its King Corned Beef sandwich to the Dirk Nowitzki for the month of June.

I get that Cleveland fans hate LeBron James with the fire of a thousand suns. I also get that LeBron James himself ignited that wildfire, but is it time for Cavs fans to put this bitter relationship to rest?